This is dedicated to all human survival modes. Robust health is essential if we want to meet our goals in this life. It is never too late to be wise. It is never too early to revise.

Monday, May 14, 2012

GREENER MEDICAL PASTURES (4)

We are blinded to realities that are all around us by the scientific method that dominates our times. We simply need to expand our conceptual framework in order to see them. If I do not believe in the existence of wood-chucks, then when I finally do see one wood-chuck I will mistakenly assume that it is just a reallybig squirrel. We must recognize the serious limitations the randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, scientific "gold standard" of modern medicine imposes upon our perceptions. While the value of this approach is occasionally relevant, its elevated status as the highest standard of proof deserve a significant demotionin the overall hierarchy of health priorities. A morecomplete understanding of modern medical science makes it evident that economic medical reform only scratches the surface of the real underlying issues. Rather,it is the substance of medicine that must undergo serious revision from the ground up, and it must start by incorporating a cohesive philosophy that begins to make some sense out of its chaotic and often harmful practices.

Health is not a commodity that can be purchased. The medical system must cease taking advantage of the weakest members of society -- the elderly, the poor, and the infirm. For physicians to continue to routinely prescribe, and patients to continue to take, medications that pose distinct risks of serious illness and death is, to me, an unacceptable standard of care. The notion of better living through pharmaceuticals is a failed experiment, the repercussion of which are likely to reverberate for generations to come. Faith-based vaccinations that continue to maim our children are the tragic result of stubborn adherence to a failed philosophy not borne out by fact. Those who choose such medical lifestyle options as cosmetic facelifts, boltulinum toxin injections, and erectile dysfunction drugs should be forewarned that this is not medicine designed to heal, and it involves the risk of placing your life in the hands of those who may not be motivated by the best intentions.